Axel Kicillof entered the race for the 2027 presidential elections this Saturday afternoon at an event held by his Movement Right to the Future (MDF), during which the governor leveled criticism at Javier Milei and sent strong messages to the Peronist internal faction with allusions to Máximo Kirchner and La Cámpora. "Count on me for next year," he declared emphatically in a message that put him squarely in the running for the presidency.
The Buenos Aires governor organized his own campaign event at an MDF plenary session in Avellaneda, accompanied by social movements, trade unions, and self-organized groups from various provinces. According to sources close to the governorship, more than 30,000 people were estimated to have been present at the National Technological University. "Today we came to build. There were 10 commissions on different topics such as security, justice, and the environment."
The speech was introduced by former local mayor Jorge Ferraresi, whose name appeared on several banners as a possible replacement for Kicillof next year. He was not the only one. In fact, one might say there was something of a competition among gubernatorial candidacies represented in the thousands of banners visible near the stage. The surnames Ferraresi, Katopodis, and even Espinoza were on display. None received the governor's explicit blessing.
Ferraresi ventured to compare him to Perón in his brief introduction: "This disastrous government arrived and Axel began walking toward where the people were — at the CGT and CTA strikes, alongside human rights, with the retirees, in defense of the Land Law. Walking that path, he came to stand at the head of that great national column. Today Axel refounds that federal movement, just as Perón did."
Minutes later, the crowd began chanting "Axel presidente" with Argentine pennants, though with less euphoria than at other Peronist events. "Thank you for coming," said the provincial leader, and he launched into his speech with a strong campaign tone and a jab at La Cámpora: "After so much suspicion, it was simpler than that. New songs are composed collectively, and they are composed from the bottom up." It was a direct reference to the organization run by Máximo Kirchner, who has been criticizing him over his phrase about "new songs" — uttered years ago and pointing toward renewal. Máximo Kirchner, on September 1st last year, during the commemoration of the assassination attempt against his mother, called on those present to chant against the governor.
Standing at a white podium bearing the phrase "There is another way" in pink letters, flanked by the Argentine flag, the governor read from his speech and called for patience: "This is just beginning. We chose to call ourselves a movement to make clear that we are part of something much larger." While criticism of the bitter internal divisions within Peronism were not frequent, they made themselves felt. He also listed the provinces he had visited throughout the year — Córdoba, Chaco, Corrientes — and explained that in all of them, people's problems are the same: stagnant economies and scarce investment.
At that point he began to distinguish himself from the government of Javier Milei. "He doesn't inaugurate schools, he doesn't inaugurate roads, or hospitals, or universities. This is a government that has abandoned the provinces, their people, and the idea of an integrated Argentina. We think and do the opposite," he shouted emphatically. His supporters responded with the chant: "Anyone who's not jumping voted for Milei."
When speaking about the economic situation, he took the opportunity to campaign: "Next year we have to change the economic direction of Argentina," he stated. He also referred to the problem of suicides. "Economic and social order is important, but a country is not put in order by destroying the productive apparatus, the scientific system, health, infrastructure and public health," said Kicillof. "Suicides are growing in Argentina. No one can remain indifferent," he added. He also assured that Milei's administration "is going against the grain of what is happening on the planet" and called the government "ignorant, surrendering and insensitive."
The governor planted his own slogan ahead of 2027: "It's not you, it's Milei" and spoke to small business owners, merchants, entrepreneurs, artists and even students. He also referred to workers who lost their jobs and those who cannot afford to rent. "It's not you, the problem is Milei," he shouted. There was not as much support for the chants of 'Axel presidente' as there was for 'he who doesn't jump is an Englishman' when he referred to the Malvinas cause. He even went on to say that Milei was a fan of Margaret Thatcher.
At another point in the speech, he made a blooper by saying "we are in the 20th century" and questioned Milei's closeness to Israel. "We don't need an Israeli plan. I would not support genocides or invasions." It was at that moment that he was candid and called for a major political agreement ahead of 2027. "Peronism alone will not be enough. An alternative is not built from an office," in an allusion that appeared to point to San José 1111, where the former president is under house arrest and holds meetings with leaders focused on the PJ and 2027.
He only made reference to Cristina Kirchner toward the end, when he assured that she is unjustly detained and also when recalling that during her government and that of Néstor "the people lived better."
Already near the end of his speech, he pronounced the words with which he entered the race: "Don't count on me to sit and wait. It is necessary to build now, in addition to the opposition, a national option, a way out, a better place to go. Therefore, count on me so that next year Argentina has an alternative that allows us to put an end to this model, but above all that allows us to begin a different era." He did so before a crowd that was shouting 'say it, say it' as if the governor were holding something back for later.
